[dropcap]M[/dropcap]P Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is bigger bluff-master than Narendra Modi. Finding himself in a tight spot following a spate of rape and gang-rape incidents in and around Bhopal and the resultant screeching headlines in local newspapers, he started his own counter-propaganda about capital punishment to rapists. He even took his idea to the cabinet meeting where some of his senior ministers opposed it on the ground that such a measure would lead to more murders of victims after rape. Eventually he got the approval of the cabinet for suitable amendment in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for a provision of death sentence to whoever rapes a girl of up to 12 years of age. The bill will now be presented to the Assembly which started its winter session on November 27.
Madhya Pradesh has been recording the highest number of crimes against women, including death for rape, for over a decade. It is not for lack of sufficient legal provision to punish the culprits. The major reason for the rise of heinous crimes, including rape, in Madhya Pradesh is conversion of police force into Chouhan’s personal mafia. The police officers are being used to tamper with the evidence when a serious crime has been committed and the interest of someone close to Chouhan is suspected. Vyapam is the most glaring example where a Special Task Force (STF) headed by a senior IPS officer bungled the entire investigation apparently to save some high-ups. The then DGP and the present DGP were said to have tampered with the evidence of Shehla Masood’s murder in the morning of august 16, 2011 before the team from Koh-e-Fiza police station (which had the jurisdiction) could reach the site. The allegation as to how the senior officers had destroyed the evidence was made by none other than Koh-e-Fiza police station in-charge before a TV channel. Such instances are many.
Death for rape
Coming to the rape, the only instance where Chouhan’s police acted swiftly and submitted the charge-sheet in the court within days was the recent gang-rape of a UPSC student in Bhopal. But the girl, in spite of both of her parents being in the police, had to suffer police-inflicted tortures no less painful than the rape by hoodlums for three hours after dragging her to an isolated place near Habibganj railway station. When she went to the Government Railway Police (GRP) with her complaint, she was mocked for ‘coming with a filmy story’. She was made to run from one police station to another police station, tried to talk to senior officers but in vain and it was because of the outcry in the local media that her complaint was registered after 72 hours. Several more incidents of rape have since been reported around Bhopal and one has not perceived any change in the attitude of the police. It was not for nothing that a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge had described the State’s police as ‘criminals in uniform’.
If Chouhan is really sincere about checking crimes against women, he should made provision of stringent punishment to a police officer found guilty of not registering a rape complaint as soon as the victim approaches the police station. Leave aside death sentence or life imprisonment, even five years’ imprisonment will have salutary effect if the police register the rape complaint promptly, behave with the victim sympathetically and investigate the matter with alacrity —- which is too much to expect from Chouhan who has done everything to corrupt the police, bureaucracy and judiciary. With the police set-up as it is, his talks of death sentence or life imprisonment will have only propaganda value which perhaps is his only objective.
It will not be out of place to reproduce from an earlier piece how Chouhan’s predecessors, Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur, had amended law to provide harsher punishment to molesters. The Subsection-A was added to Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (use of criminal force to outrage the modesty of woman); it provided that the offender ‘shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine.’ The main Section provides for a maximum punishment of up to two years. Besides, the Madhya Pradesh amendment also provides for the same punishment to whoever abets or conspires in the act, which is not there in the main Section.
Not even once has Chouhan’s corrupt police invoked this Section to book a stalker, though harassment of women on roads and in buses has been steadily on the increase during Chouhan’s regime.
Turtuk (India-Pakistan border): One night in December 1971, the residents of this village went to sleep as Pakistan citizens. They awoke next morning as Indians. Turtuk, along with three other villages in the vicinity – Tyakshi, Chalunka and Thang – were reoccupied by advancing Indian armed forces during the 1971 war of liberation of Bangladesh.
When I started my cycle journey through all the states of India, Nepal and Bhutan, I never knew that I will be exploring some unheard stories from the unexplored lands. But as the miles kept increasing and new people kept meeting me, they told me about the places where I should go and visit. This is how I got to know about Turtuk, the last or the northernmost village of India.
This village is located 215 kilometres in the North of Leh city. And to reach there you have to cross “Khardung la” which is one of the highest motorable passes in the world at the height of 18,380 ft and Nubra Valley.
In 1948, the entire Baltistan, including the Turtuk area was merged with Pakistan. While Bangladesh was being carved out of Pakistan during the 1971 war, Indian troops took back Turtuk and three more villages – Dhothang, Tyakshi (earlier called Tiaqsi) and Chalunkha – from the Pakistani territory, 23 years after it went to Pakistan.
The countenance and dressing pattern of the locals changes significantly from Leh. In Leh city you will find the countenance and dress similar to Buddhism but in Turtuk it starts to change into Muhamaddin dress and balti language but the attitude of people is pure pahadi. I mean to say that they are adventure and nature lover. People live with a common bonding of love and care. If something good or bad happens in a home then the whole village reaches there in large groups to see them. Everyone knows each other and greets on his way to home or work.
Tour of Turtuk
I met a local guy here who was introduced to me by Major Nathani of Gorkha Regiment. His name is Mir and he serves in army as a helper in mountaineering. He helped me with the stay and food for two days and also took me to the tour of Turtuk. The tour of Turtuk includes many fascinating stories that convey how the people live despite of so many adversities regarding weather and food. The villagers have innovated so many ingenious ways of survival.
Natural fridges
There are some old structures in Turtuk which are called as Natural fridge. It means they preserve your food without any electrical or mechanical element. They are actually low rise structures which are more like hutments. They all are locked. Mir asked me to put my hands in the structure through the crevices in the door and structure. It’s icy cold! He explains that this is their natural refrigerator! This has been created through channelization of the glacial waters and has been in use since hundreds of years to store meat, veggies and pashmina. The channelization of the glacial water generate the icy cold airs which keeps them child. The water seems to come from the Turtuk Lungpa (a river). The lungpa flows across the valley and underneath the homes through drainages. This stream separates the village in two. What ingeniousness!!
Watermill for flour grinding
You can see one more attraction in Turtuk which is a flour grinding mill being powered by stream water. Mir bhai took me to capture this mill. The grinder is rotated by the power of the rapid flow of water streams flowing underneath the houses and through the drainages. Villagers use this power of water to grind the flour from their home-grown wheat.
The 80-year-old man showing his shawl making machine
The shawl maker
Some more walking through the narrow lanes of village take you to another house where lives a 80 years old aged man who makes some superb shawls. He is known for his hand machine that he himself built way back in his young age and has been using to make a very fine quality of shawls in the valley. He also makes shawls in front the tourists and sell them on the spot for an handsome amount of Rs 4 to 5 thousands. He very fondly welcomed me into his home and should me all the nuances of his wooden machine and displayed some of his creations in shawls and woolen caps.
Agriculture
We proceeded further and reached the top. The view on the other side is lush green.. and orange! Agriculture wise, this area grows at least two crops of wheat in an year. So while one crop of wheat has been recently cut and stacked, another crop is already growing. Apart from apricots, mulberry, almonds and walnuts are also grown in Turtuk. You will find the whole village abundant with the trees of apricot, grapes and orchards laden with apples. The season of these fruits falls in the months of August, September and October. You can also see villagers and labourers engaged in the trade of supply carrying a basket on their back fully loaded with the rich apples. And if you want to have a once-in-a-life-time moment then try carrying that basket and pluck some apples on your own.
The trees of Safeda tree, willow and poplar are used for wooden logs which are used in house building and the especially the ceiling in Kashmiri houses.
Narrow allys and waterstreams flows with clean water which is quite amazing. Every moment of the whole day, your ears will hear the voice of small streams and drainages.
Old polo ground
An old polo ground is seen forlorn now as it is now used by the kids to play or by the people to roam in. Earlier the emperors used to play Polo which was told to me by the present king. He also showed me the polo sticks that were used by his forefathers.
Balti Culture
The whole village follows the balti culture and you can notice a touch of old balti language in their accent. They respect every outsider and keep them with a great care as they kept me.
The 106 feet high statue of Maitreya Buddha
Museum of the king of Baltistan
After a long walk down the narrow and undulating lanes, shepherded by Mir bhai, I arrived at what was supposed to be the highlight of my excursion. At first glance, it was slightly underwhelming – the house is larger than its neighbours, but little else set it apart. This is not just a house, it’s a museum which is being taken care of the present king of Turtuk. His name is Yabgo Muhammad Khan Kacho. Yabgo is the name of the dynasty which existed in 12th century and has its roots in Mangolia.
The Yabgo dynasty ruled the Chorbat-Khaplu region of Baltistan for a millennium, expanding it over time to Ladakh’s frontiers on one side and to Ghizer district on the western edge of Gilgit-Baltistan. The dynasty ended in the first half of the 19th century when the Dogra empire, which had, in 1846 taken control of Kashmir, forming the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, expanded its kingdom North and East.
Kacho, Turtuk’s king, also has some family on the other side. He traces his lineage to the Ghaz tribe from West Turkestan, a region today known as Central Asia. His ancestor, Beg Manthal, came to Baltistan in 800 AD from Yarkhand (which is part of modern-day China’s Xinjiang region) via the Saltoro ridge (which is to the west of the Siachen glacier) and conquered Khaplu, in modern-day Gilgit-Baltistan.
A wall at one end of the room has the family tree painted on it, going back centuries. The king said that an artist from Indian army helped him document this. The Indian army means many things to most Baltistan residents – employer; buyer of locally-produced vegetables, milk, fruits and meat; provider of healthcare and education, employer to many youngesters as well as occasional source of telecom network and other basic infrastructure.
He himself always takes every visitor to the tour of his museum and describes every detail of his forefathers and the collection of polo sticks, utensils, Sabres, arrows, sherwanis of old kings.
The king describes himself as a writer and said his father didn’t want him to work but just spread the word about their family. He decided to tell his people what they were all about. But, the Indian government banned his book based on complaints from a sect that saw blasphemy in his account of how their religious order was established, he said. He contested the ban in Indian courts and eventually won after years of litigation. He very sadly shared the fact with me that he didn’t retain a single copy of the book – he doesn’t even remember the name of the Delhi-based publisher.
Sheyok River
Sheyok river is the main river here which flows into India from China and flows out to Pakistan. No amount of water is being used in India to date but now probably a Hydro power project is being worked upon here.
On your way from Leh to Turtuk you will also cross the Nubra valley and Hunder. In Nubra Valley you will see a recently installed 106 feet high statue of Maitreya Buddha and a 14th century old monastery. The Maitreya Buddha is called the future Buddha which means if Buddha ever comes again to Earth then his Avatar will be like this. This statue is facing towards the Indo Pak border, if you are coming from Leh then you will first see its back. Hunder is famous for its double humped camels which I had to miss as I crossed that part in the afternoon and camles can be seen in the evening.
A boy smile near the army camp at Turtuk
A cafe by Army
The battalion of 1st Maratha post is taking care of the last barrier in the village and is also running a cafe which serves some really tasty momos. It’s altogether a different experience to have the momos in a roadside cafe which is being run by an army post. The Indo Pak border is just 8 kms away from the point by which a civilian can go. The mountains in the Pakistan land can be spotted easily. On 14th of August which is the independence day of Pakistan, those mountains are lit up by the earthen lamps and lights and it illuminate the whole big Mountain.
Tyakshi village also has a school which was built by Pakistan and is now being run by India. Many teachers from West Bengal and the north east region of India come here to stay here for 3-4 months in a year and teach the children of the village.
I didn’t see any beggar in Leh Ladakh and in villages. People have farms of Apricot, Apple and wheat that they grow to sell and to use for themselves. Everyone is now having a home stay or guesthouse for the tourists. They have small gardens where vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes and wheat are grown and used for their own food and to serve the tourists.
What I found the most intriguing is that the people are simple and big hearted like the mountains. They have adapted to live in the mountains and it has made them more welcoming. Visitors and travellers are welcomed with great warmth and a smile on face.
Mumbai: Green crusader, Afroz Shah has hung his boots, albeit temporarily, after being heckled on Versova Beach, during is weekend clean up spree.
Few days back, Shah, emotionally tweeted that he is giving up on his clean up mission for the beach. Since then several people including Aditya Thakrey requested him to continue his extra-ordinary work of clean up of the beach, which had started two years back by him, singlehandedly. Later several get connected to this cause. His beach clean up programme had become a movement, in which not only Amitabh Bachchan visit Versova to clean the beach with him, and also called him in the ongoing (Kaun Banega Karorpati) KBC show but UN also recognized his crusade. And it was believed that Maharashtra government will be able to assure the disheartened Shah to restart, but it could not.
Talking to eNewsroom, immediately after meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he said, “Both CM Phadnavis and Aditya Thackrey have extended their support to my clean up programme. They have assured of taking action but I have given up. I am not ashamed, when I say that I tried hard, but failed to change the mentality of the society, which doesn’t want its surrounding to be clean.” Elaborating on his decision he said, “If after selflessly serving the country, one get heckled by goons or has to wait for the lethargic municipal officials to dispose the garbage tirelessly scavenged by me and my volunteers, then something is seriously wrong with the society. No amount of political assurance will help.”
In his 109-week long movement, Afroz Shah had helped lift 9 million Kilograms of garbage from one of the dirtiest beach of India, Versova.
Meanwhile, after the meeting of CM Fadnavis and Afroz Shah, the Twitter handle of Chief Minister Office (CMO), Maharashtra had tweeted that, they will extend full support to the green crusader, and it was retweeted by Fadnavis too.
Is it the end of road?
On it, he said, “Well, I haven’t dropped the curtains yet. To be honest, the beach clean up was a mission for me. It is very close to my heart. So, if I notice a change, I will be back, and do what I love doing the most.” The green activist, was both distraught and unhappy, with the way the things transpired in the 109-week of his campaign.
Especially, after being acknowledged globally and by the United Nation, the decision to call quits was definitely a tough decision for the lawyer-turned-eco-activist. He maintains, though he and his volunteers will no longer tirelessly clean the beach on weekends, he will be keeping himself busy by sensitising the youths about keeping the beach clean and advocating for marine life.
“ I am a Gandhian and will continue to serve our country,” he added. He then trailed of to add, “It was only after we moved on to this locality that I began this beach clean up programme. You never know, I might pick up a new cause. But if speak of beach clean up now, well, I can’t commit to comeback.”
Watch Afroz Shah’s work in our video story:
Community work
Well, Shah, who made it international headlines, single-handedly spearheading a beach clean up programme, does have a point. In most developed countries, beach clean ups are part of community work, where the municipal corporation invites citizens for clean up programmes or asks individuals to donate certain number of working hours for beach development.
“We never complained. But when you and your volunteers realise that the civic authorities are not doing their bit, you are bound to get disappointed. What further hurt was the fact that these lethargic officials bounced back to work after my tweet. All the volunteers doing community work, are done now,” he added.
However, on social media, specially, on Facebook, the crusader is getting huge support that its not his failure and whatever he has done, he is their hero.
Shah, who has been conducting workshops in school and colleges to promote hygiene and cleanliness will continue doing so.
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]s Suhail Mathur India’s J K Rowling in the making– I asked this question to myself when I finished reading Suhail’s THE HUNT FOR RAMA’S BOW—a novel in mythological fantasy.
It is not that Mohan—the main protagonist of the novel—is someone like Harry Potter, the young wizard and student at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Any Indian youth can easily identify himself with Mohan—a normal student of history at Delhi University. He loves his beautiful girlfriend, Samaira, he is used to his cell phone, makes a well researched presentation on revolutionary Madan Lal Dhingra at his college and makes friends.
But Mohan embarks on the journey to catch Dasawanakoka, living in his forbidden kingdom on high altitude which the mortal world is oblivious of. Mohan undertakes this long and arduous journey through the world of magic, wizardry and fantasy rooted in Indian mythology and folktales.
Nothing enthralls the children in particular and common people in general when animals and birds talk in human’s language. Be it the modern time or the bygone era, people love to believe in the existence of the world beyond their eyes can see and their senses perceive.
THE HUNT FOR RAMA BOW
Suhail Mathur takes Mohan on the unpredictable and treacherous journey of seeking the mythical berries that Lord Rama had left at Sabri’s hut and the Kodanda—Rama’s bow—that he needed to reach the forbidden kingdom of Dasavanaking and liberate princess Alankrita from the clutches of the ferocious demon king.
Mohan might have negotiated through intricate paths, treacherous hills, cruel creatures, tricky wizards and sorcerers to achieve his goal. But Suhail takes his reader THE HUNT FOR RAMA BOW to the enchanting or dreaded scenes with ease, thanks to the simple words and racy narration.
It is easy to read. Once you begin reading it, you keep on turning the pages with ease and felicity till Dasavana is overpowered and Alankrita is liberated. While it is for the critics trained in analyzing the craft and style of the novel to judge it on those standard parameters, I found it quite readable and entertaining. I recommend the novel loving readers to buy and read THE HUNT FOR RAMA BOW.
Kolkata: Rohingya exodus and persecution is perhaps the most planned genocide in recent times. We all know how the Rohingya refugees flee from their motherland, crammed in a boat, sailing across the Bay of Bengal to shores of other neighbouring countries (India and Bangladesh). In the entire exodus, it’s the boatman who actually becomes the anchor for the Rohingyas fleeing to a safer country.
Four young artistes from Kolkata, who have been closely following the news, have beautifully captured the pain, the hope and the anxiety of the Rohingyas in their song Boatman.
“We all know the issue. But many a time we choose not to speak about it as we are not directly affected. The idea of making this song was to make people talk about the most planned genocide that’s taking place in Myanmar,” says Adil Rashid, the lead guitarist of the band Underground Reality.
A band with a soul
The band, which carved niche for itself by making it to the final round of India’s Got Talent, season two, maintains that doing songs that highlight socio-political issues is not a new thing for them. “Doing gigs, creating remix albums might help us earn our bread and butter, but we as a band, have one agenda – to highlight social issues through our songs. We call it protest poetry, and try bringing out at least one such song in a year,” adds Adil, who has quit his career in electrical engineering for his love for music.
Prior to Boatman, they had brought out albums that have addressed issues like violence against women, economic failure, capitalism and more.
Watch the song:
What about Rohingyas…
However, the heart wrenching lines penned by the lead vocalist and lyricists Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer, forces the listener to feel the Rohingya pain, as he raps. Speaking to eNewsroom about the issue, “The idea of Boatman song was to make people feel about the Rohingyas, make them talk about them. We just can’t ignore their mass killing. These were the thoughts that I had while penning down the lyrics. I am glad that people are talking about it,” shares Santhanam.
He adds, “Issue has been on since long and I have wanted to write for long time. And I have a reason. You, see, when I was in college I had watched a documentary titled Douye, it was on Aung San Suu Kyi. It narrated her tale, her fight for democracy and people Myanmar. Needless to say, she became a role model for me. And today, when I see her silent on this issue, it worries me to the core. What is more worrying that even the UN is silent on this issue. Had it been about some other ethnic group, or place, I am sure their would be an uproar on the social media. This trend troubles me. Hence, I took it as a responsibility to sensitise people about the Rohingya issue.”
The Underground Reality band
Rap is all about highlighting issues
It took the team around 15 days to bring out the album. “We don’t have huge budgets and we generally make our videos at home. It took us around 10-15 days to have Boatman ready. It’s a sarcastic take on the government of Myanmar and people, who choose to turn a blind eye to the plight of the Rohingyas, just on the ground of their ethnicity and religion,” sums up Adil.
Elaborating on the style, Santhanam say, “Rap I poetry and as we all know poems have always palys a vital role in highlighting issues. Unfortunately, Rap, has been super commercialized. If we go back to its origin, rap was sung to highlight atrocities committed to the Black people. I have maintained that I write to express and not impress, I write about what I see. I have felt the pain of the Rohingyas. Believe me, it took me only 20 minutes to pen the lyrics of this song.”
Message of the song on Rohingyas
The band firmly believes that no human fleeing from their land of origin, seeking refuge in another country should be barred just on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. “It’s the modern age apartheid, isn’t it?” questions Adil.
While Santhanam adds, “We often talk of religious extremism. But look at this genocide, isn’t it being orchestrated by the followers of the most peaceful religion on earth – Buddhism. My song attempts to highlight this aspect also. It’s not the religion that makes one an extremist, its our insecurities that makes us resort to violence, its our own fears that make us so cruel.”
Last year this time, the theatre society of the college I teach in got disqualified at a Sahitya Kala academy event, because their play had the words BRA PANTY. I am the teacher convener of the society. Infuriated, I came back home and made a post about it. The post immediately got more than 800 likes and 200 shares. You can read it here: https://www.facebook.com/monami.basu.12/posts/1409329535743842
The next day I was inundated with calls from newspapers, HT, TOI. I gave an interview to HT after which the Head of my institution advised us not to give any more interviews. However my HT interview and my FB post was picked up by atleast 20 newspapers and online portals (you can do a name search and you will see the articles). In the following week RED FM, Radio Mirchi, NDTV called me, pestered my students to give interviews but we refused. The kind of media attention this incident was getting was very surprising to us. Then I realised what was happening. I was protesting the abnormalising of women’s day to day garments, the perverse titillation that a simple word like BRA brought about in the minds of the judges. I realised the news agencies were doing the very same thing, using the very same words in their headlines for click baiting and TRP and titillation. OH the IRONY! my protest was being USED for the very reasons I was protesting.
Now let us fast forward to 9-11th Nov 2017, the worker’s Mahapadhav, that convened recently in New Delhi’s Parliament street. Workers from all parts of the country congregated in the heart of Delhi to protest the exploitative labour practices of the Government. 300000 workers had come from various parts of the country to protest the anti-worker policies of the government over the three day strike. The third day of the strike was of scheme workers. Since scheme workers are mostly women, Parliament street was a sea of women workers. However, it was heartbreaking to see a complete media blackout of the event. Their hopeful faces looked for solidarity from those who have the power to amplify their voices; but, sadly, not one was to be found. NO Media except for NewsClick.in absolutely NONE was on Parliament street on those three days. A few of us went and talked to the women out there, to lend them a sympathetic ear, and wrote down their stories, took their pictures. They asked us if we were from some big TV or newspaper, we shook our heads sadly and promised them that we will carry their stories as far as we can. I came back home and posted pictures on my FB wall, sent those stories to some portals, but it got very little traction. We repeatedly tried to amplify their voices but the middle class was just not interested, the same middle class which liked my BRA PANTY post 800 times and shared the newspaper articles thousands of times were just not interested in the struggles of the working class. This indifference was both shocking and heartbreaking. ONE journalist just ONE Angshuman Choudhury contacted me for a story and I wrote an article about the plight of the women workers. You can read it here http://eleventhcolumn.com/…/voices-new-delhis-grand-worker…/ . I posted the article on my FB page and it got about 50 likes and 30 shares. The hypocrisy of media, middle class people was always known but the indifference self proclaimed middle class elite feminists showed towards this event, towards working class women and their struggles was so disheartening. The event did not become part of their ‘feminism.’
The worker’s protest had large numbers of women in attendance. They were scheme workers, Aanganwadi workers, ASHA workers. Just a few weeks back, after a law student had brought out a #himtoo list of sexual predators in academia based on anonymous victim accounts, a storm had broken out on social media. Some feminists felt this was the way to go, others were issuing a word of caution on the methodology and appealing for “due process” to be followed. The fight became nasty, and there was name calling and heated arguments on social media debating who the true feminist were really, the “Savarna” feminists or the “subaltern” feminists, the “older” feminists or the “younger” feminists. Hours and hours of pedantic upper class elite feminist debate, went on like a rudderless boat. I was a part of that wasteful exercise too. I found my answer.
THESE ARE THE TRUE FEMINISTS. Here are a few faces, people I would revere as feminists
These are Aanganwadi workers from Sambhalpur, Odhisha. Many among them are widows of farmers who have committed suicide. They have lost everything, yet they came, they fought. These working class women are the real heroes, the true Feminists. These women who fight daily battles against patriarchy, unequal wages, exploitation. Feminism is a lived experience for them. They came to Parliament street with babies tied to their waist, forgoing their daily wages, going on empty stomach to assert their rights. These are the true feminists, the 99 percent, the working class women. What resilience! what power emanating from them! And if we can’t show them solidarity, if we don’t listen to their stories, if we don’t go stand with them shoulder to shoulder, if we can’t amplify their voices, if we can’t include them in our feminist discourse, if we just hover around issues that affect us, then our Feminism be DAMNED!!!
And the heading of my write-up was clickbait, because I know, most of you won’t read it otherwise!
Alwar/Jaipur: When Umar Mohammed was lynched and shot to death, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje was in Alwar itself, camping in the district for the by-poll. She was there from November 9 to 13. Because of the rise of lynching cases, and later police role to underplay it, the Article 21 of Indian Constitution—Right to Life of Muslims is in danger.
The murder of 42-year-old dairy farmer and attack on two others by cow vigilantes has shocked entire nation. The attack has striking resemblance to the lynching of Pehlu Khan, another dairy farmer, who was lynched in same district about seven months back. However, unlike Pehlu’s case, Umar’s body had been thrown on a railway track, in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The gruesome murder also hints the alleged involvement of Ramgarh Police. Resembles the state of law and order of the district, where the chief minister was there only, around that time.
Right to Life
From November 9 to 13, Vasundhara tweeted at least a dozen times about her activities in Alwar. But even in her presence. Not just Umar was lynched but the police also refused to register an FIR on the basis of the deceased’s family request. On the contrary, the police had registered case against the victim on November 10.
The action angered the family members, who refused to let Umar’s autopsy be done at Jaipur’s SMS hospital till Monday, and several human rights activists took on to the street, to raise their voice against the killing.
At least 15 organizations protested in Jaipur. During the protest march, elderly relatives of Umar, Razzak and Iliyas were also present.
Umar Mohammed of Pahadi Kaman Bharatpur was killed by gau rakshaks on November 10, while he was transporting cattles from Ramgarh to his village, his pickup vehicle was stopped by means of a patta, following which his truck’s tyre was punctured. He was then attacked. Umar was killed by a gun shot. Allegations are being made about it being made that bullets were of police.
Protest over lynching of Umar Mohammed in Jaipur
Later it was also tried to destroy the evidence by throwing his body on a railway track. The present state of his body shows the brutality that his killers indulged in.
But despite the body being run over by trains many a time, couldn’t hide the wound caused by the bullet. Tahir, another man, who was attacked at the same time, is an eyewitness to the murder and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Haryana.
The larger question of the safety of dairy farmers, the gau palak of Mewat and the Muslims in the state was the larger demand of the protest.
The activist questioned Vasundhara, “Madam, are there any plans to call a halt to this bloody madness as now the gau rakshaks have tasted blood and have the support of the police and administration (all pehlu khan killers were thrown out of the purview of investigation and presently, Zafar Khan’s killers are roaming free). If you will not stop this now, these murders are going to be on the rise. It will be a major violation of Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution by your Government of Article 21. You are supposed to protect the lives and not provide impunity to the killers.”
However, one can guess where Umar case will head, as home minister Gulabchand Kataria made statement that there is lack of man power and police can’t be deputed at every place. Alwar police has arrested one person in this connection and now claiming to reach other accused soon.
Alwar/Jaipur: Umar Mohammed, the most recent victim of cow vigilants in India was not killed by the gau rakshaks alone. He died from the bullets fired by the Ramgarh police in Alwar district of Rajasthan, alleged members of Public Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
Umar’s dead body was found lying at the railway track on Friday evening, post which first his body was kept at a government hospital’s mortuary in Alwar and then sent to SMS Hospital, Jaipur. The victim, as revealed later, was a dairy farmer and was transporting cows from Alwar to Bharatpur on a pickup van along with two other men- Tahir and Javed. They were spotted by gau rakshaks and later Umar was lynched. Javed successed to flee, and after reaching to his village, informed villagers that bullets were fired on them and he had no idea what happened to others.
Tahir, was badly beaten and sustained grave injuries. He is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Haryana.
Ironically, after two days of the recovery of Umar’s dead body, the FIR could be registered on Sunday evening when the family members of Umar insisted under section 302 and 201 of IPC.
But, an FIR has already been registered against victims on Friday itself under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, against the alleged cow smugglers and the vehicle sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
“Umar’s murder is the complete failure of the Vasundhara Raje Government in protecting the Muslims, precisely, the Muslim dairy farmers from the cow vigilantes. However, in this case it is being alleged that the bullet fired by one of Ramgarh’s police killed him, post which the police tried to destroy evidence by throwing his body on the railway track. The present state of his body bears a testimony of the brutality that the police and the so called Gaurakshaks can indulge in,” stated a communiqué released by PUCL.
“We want the person named – Rakesh as mentioned by Tahir, the man who was successful in escaping the bloody madness of the police and the Gaurakshaks,” demanded the human rights organization.
“The most important question here is, from where gau rakshaks got bullet, if it was not of police?” Kavita Srivastava of PUCL told eNewsroom.
The organization condemned the heinous crime in strongest words, has also demanded for compensation, protection and immediate action to be taken against the policemen.
As per PUCL, Umar’s family should be given a compensation of INR 25 lakhs in cash along with some land. Tahir be given protection and a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs. And the false case of cow smuggling against Umar and Tahir should be dropped immediately.
They have also demanded for the immediate removal of Ramgarh’s SHO and suspension of Alwar’s SP for failing to do their duty. They have also demanded for the Home Ministry to provide protection of Meos in Alwar and Bharatpur district, read the letter.
“We demand the immediate lodging of an FIR with names against the so called Gaurakshaks and the Ramgarh police,” the release, which is undersigned by Kavita Srivastava, Nikhil Dey and Noor Mohammed among others, added.
Earlier in April this year, Pehlu Khan, another dairy farmer from Alwar was lynched by gau rakshaks and Rajasthan police had not found any evidence even after having recorded the dying declaration of Pehlu Khan, which eventually lead to the bail of the six accused in the case.
Jaipur: Strike by resident doctors in Rajasthan has entered 7th day, and it has crippled the health service of the desert state, for now only a handful of patients are available to treat thousand of patients who come to the hospital on a daily basis. The doctors have called for a strike seeking a higher pay scale and promotions. While state government claims that the strike is against a High Court order. Government also claimed on Saturday that at least 14 doctors have been arrested from across the state under RESMA (Rajasthan Essential Service Maintenance Act), for not returning to work, on the stipulated date fixed by the government. And that 100 doctors have resumed work, in fear of arrest. From Monday, patients will have to face more difficulties, as first three days of the week, see large turn out of the patients in government hospitals in Rajasthan. Watch the pictures clicked by Chandra Mohan Aloria, to understand the suffering of patients and their family members have to undergo because of the strike.
Jaipur: On Saturday farmers of Nindar village, Rajasthan, woke up to see a large number of police present in their village along with officials from Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) and JCB machines.
Soon policemen and officials began taking control of the lands, for which farmers had staged a month long protest by staying half-buried in pits. On getting assurance from JDA ministers, they had withdrawn their protest.
While taking control of the area, the police also beat male and female farmers, who tried to protest. The farmers also alleged that the police barged into their inside house and beat up female farmers. This forced them to resort to stone pelting.
A large number of policemen had been called to make farmers evacuate the area. JDA officials have taken control of a huge portion of the land, which the farmers were hopeful of having a fresh survey done, as promised by the government.
Nagendra Singh, a farmer who had led the protest, said that it’s breach of contract by the JDA and now they will decide their future course of action.
The protest by Nindar farmers is unique and probably nowhere in India such half-buried protest took place to save land.
Pictures credit: Chandra Mohan Aloria
Nindar village, Rajasthan
A female farmer showing her bruished shoulder
Another female farmers showing her injured ankle
A young farmer with beaten marks, and torn clothes
An elderly farmer, showing his bruised back
The spot after the clash between the Nindar farmers and police
A girl, from her rooftop, watching the activities of policemen
Large number of police, with special uniform were called
A JCB clearing off the area as per JDA officials instructions
